Dawning Light
by EbonyCircles
Summary: Jenica Halliwell moves to Forks, Washington to fix one specific problem.  However, as so often happens in Forks, one problem quickly multiplies into millions.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing not Charmed not Twilight.

My sister dropped me off at the door to the main building. Odd I know, I'm probably one of the few people who don't drive to school. Wouldn't you know it was raining, that's all it ever does in Forks I've come to find. Sunlight is a foreign concept. "I don't think we're in California anymore, Toto," I murmured to myself. I touched my sunglasses hesitantly, it was only out of habit that I had slipped them on that morning before walking out the door. If I sound a little down it's because I am, don't get me wrong I would do anything for a charge, but honestly rain was not made for romance.

The lady at the desk smiled, I gave her my name and told her I was the new student.

"Jenica Halliwell?" That's me, new student, sister, daughter of a charmed one, psychic, and cupid.

That's right you heard it, cupid. It's surprising to most people because when they hear the word cupid they don't exactly think of an eighteen year old girl from San Francisco. People usually conjure up ideas of babies in dippers with arrows, honestly Hallmark has ruined any respectability that my job may have once had. Not that I regret being a cupid—well ok half cupid, it has its perks like being able to look into peoples' hearts and see what they truly believe.

What makes that job unbearable at times is that I deal a lot with demons. As it turns out I'm not just the regular help-the-innocent-find-love kinda of cupid. No, I'm a Keeper of Keys, basically I get to look after demons who have proven themselves capable of human love. I get to open their hearts. That's why I'm here in Forks, something has gone terribly wrong with one of my customers, a certain Mr. Edward Cullen.

I nodded "That's me, but please call me Jen." Eh I hate Jenica my mother calls me that when I'm in trouble, blah.

"Alright, Jen here is your schedule," she handed me a slip of paper, "and you will need to get this paper signed," she said handing me yet another sheet, "by all of your teachers and return it at the end of the day." She smiled again, and handed me the slip of paper. "You seem to be transferring here a little late in the school year."

"Well my family will be here over the summer and my dad thought it would be an easier transition if I came early, to uh—make friends." She nodded as if she understood, which she probably didn't, and wished me good luck on my first day of school.

I wandered around the buildings that made up Forks High School. Weak rays of light streamed in through the heavy rain clouds. I stared down at my schedule, none of the courses were as hard as they could have been. I had the usual calculus, english, and chemistry, but I wasn't as scared of them as the assignments I would have to make up from Magic School. I walked into a building labeled 3 which housed my first class of the day: French.

The class I thought was about half full, but it turned out that classes are a lot smaller in Forks then they are in California. I took a seat in the second row next to a girl who looked that she was probably six feet if she stood up.

"Hi I'm Angela," She introduced herself.

"Jen," I replied feeling a little out of my element. While being the daughter of a Charmed One has its drawbacks the nice thing is that about half of that magical world knows who you are, and you don't have to go through the awkwardness of introductions. "Nice to meet you."

Any further conversation became impossible because the bell rang and the teacher began to drone on about indirect objects and their placement in the passe compose. My morning classes passed (surprisingly) in a whirl of information it was as if someone had cast a spell to speed up time. Before I knew it I was standing in line for lunch. I was wondering exactly where I was going to sit, when Angela invited me to sit with her "friends" and I use that word loosely, I've met nicer piranhas.

Lauren was evil, pure and simple, mental note to find her cupid and make sure she doesn't find love for like the next twenty years. Jessica is slightly nicer than her evil twin Lauren but still demonic. Tyler is cute and has possibilities but I'm taken. Ben is really nice, definitely not a piranha, and you can tell how much he loves Angela. Mike is just trying way too hard, but according to his file he's in kind of in a messy spot. However, he's at least nice to me and tries have a conversation.

"So you're from California? I lived there until I was ten."

"Cool," I replied, he was a nice guy after all, "Where about in California?"

"Up—well technically down from here, in Northern California. Where'd you live?"

"San Francisco."

"So why'd you move here?"

"Parents, why else, my dad got a new job and my mom's finishing up some stuff at home and then she'll come to," I said, it was all a lie, a perfect fabrication. My dad was here to make sure I didn't screw up, he's a full cupid although his powers aren't as extensive as mine. My mother is staying home because she has faith in me or something like that.

"Cool."

"Yeah." He asked a lot of random things like was I seeing anyone (Yes I am, sorry Mike, memo to self find Mike a girl) do I have siblings (Yes one older, one younger, oh the joys of being the middle child) where's your younger sister (Jess, my sister, attends boarding school) And the older one (Just finished a semester studying culinary arts in Italy) did you walk to school (No my sister dropped me off) What (Julie, my older sister, is here she dropped me off) my favorite color (Random? Anyway it's green.) Did I like the beach (Duh…) and where was I staying (Umm…a house on Magnolia, I think I am really bad about remembering street names)

"Really," he said after he found out my address, "that's the same street Bella lives on." Coincidence, right I let you all think that.

"Bella?" I asked, while I know who she is, she became my charge after the whole catastrophe that is Edward's love life, we haven't formerly been introduced. He pointed to a girl at the end of the table who was chatting with the black haired girl seated across from her. Bella looked over and I smiled and she smiled back, so first grade but whatever. I watched Edward stiffen, probably running into my empathy blocks right about now. The blocks don't block out my entire mind, but for him I'm sure he's wondering what's going on right about now.

"What-"

"Mike, I think you've poked and prodded into Jen's life enough," Angela cut him off before he could continue his game of twenty questions. Mike looked sheepish and murmured, "Sorry."

"It's ok," I responded. I have to hand it to Mike he doesn't let anything bother him for long, he soon struck up a conversation with Lauren and forgot all about me.

"Thanks," I said to Angela, I was liking her more and more. "I thought his next question was going to be animal, vegetable, mineral?" She laughed.

"No problem, Mike sometimes gets carried away. You should have seen the interrogation that he gave Katie when she showed up."

"Katie?" Oh please don't tell me Katie's been here, well at least now I know who was inspiring major heartaches. You see, Katie and I have been mortal enemies since she decided to go all evil and abandon her charges. Katie was once a cupid, a special one like myself, a long time ago, but she fell in with the wrong crowd and changed sides so to speak. Now instead of hooking up love, she destroys it. Especially when I happened to be the one who made the connection in the first place.

"She moved here in the fall, but she recently moved away." Of course, that's her usual MO. Move in, break up, and get the hell out of dodge.

I nodded and finished my pudding, this was a stunning new development. "At the risk of sounding like a new girl, who are the people at the end of the table? Or do we not talk to them much?"

"Oh their cool, they just keep to themselves sometimes," She answered, "Alice is the one with black hair, she's in our French class, and then Bella you already know sort of, she's fun though well…anyway the guy on the end is Edward and," she added quietly, "he and Bella are dating."

I nodded, well at least things seem to be getting back on track. The bell rang, no more time for a walk down memory lane.

"Where are you going next?"

"Ugh, chemistry." As if I needed any help with handling chemistry, well ok maybe I need a little help handling_ that_ type of chemistry.

"Oh ok then come on, we can go together." Have I mentioned how much I like this girl? Note to self ask around for Angie's cupid and make sure that they give her an extra boost, and other note to self dispose of her other "friends."

The rest of the day was a blur of chemistry, PE (which I don't recommend taking, physical education is just—well there's no real way to describe what I feel towards PE), and calculus (whoever said math was a necessity was seriously disturbed).

Julie was waiting for me when I walked out of the main building after handing in my schedule to the very perky assistant. I nearly walked past her, I was too busy texting Ari to notice her.

"Hello," she called out, "earth to Jen."

"What." My head snapped up, "Hey Jules."

"Can you stop texting your friend for a minute and notice I'm here to pick you up? Loser."

"Idiot." I retorted. Don't be fooled by our interesting choice of pet names truly they are terms of endearment. Besides we love each other…most of the time. Julie is my older sister and protector of sorts, she's the one who makes sure I don't get killed while I unlock demonic hearts.

Julie shot past Edward Cullen, who was standing by his car looking at me. "Have you talked to him yet?"

"Absolutely not," I replied, talking about anything with Mr. Cullen would give me a ton of unneeded stress. Besides it's not like you can walk up to someone and say 'So I know you're a vampire and surprise I'm your cupid' that's just silly, not to mention stupid. "Honestly why would I talk to him in public."

"There's a saying, Loser, that you can catch more flies with honey then with vinegar. I don't mean that you should go and divulge that master plan you've been keeping to yourself, but a simple hello/goodbye might be nice."

"First off, I'm not catching flies, I'm talking to vampires. They are not insects, therefore vinegar works much better, they always want more of what they can't have. And as for my master plan it's still in the works, but I'll keep you posted."

"Thanks, you know I like to have a little time to get things together, but I understand you like to fly by the seat of your pants. It just doesn't work out so well for those of us who are responsible for making sure your pretty face doesn't end up as the next demonic target."

I looked around my room one last time, everything was set for those pesky nightly visitors. Waking charms, courtesy of my sister, she's great with coming up with spells at the drop of a hat, crystals, the whole ten yards. One quick scry told me that yes he was defiantly in the vicinity of my house.

My dad walked in, he still isn't completely sure that I'm alright, I mean you let your charges emotions take control of you for a few days, alright months, and suddenly there's no trust between us.

"Are you sure you have everything, honey?" my dad asked, he can't help but worry about me, and really in my line of work what parent in their right mind wouldn't worry. Though I wish he would trust me more. The Cullen's, however, are my first big case, and technically though I've been overseeing it from the beginning, I'm rather young for a Keeper. Hence, the tucking into bed routine, which he hasn't done since I was like four and finally figured out the boogieman was vanquished before I was born.

"Yeah dad, I have a waking charm on the window and the crystals are all set on the floor, besides Julie is just a shout away if I need her."

"Alright." He kissed me on my forehead and left my room.

I pulled the blanket up over my head and reached out a hand to flip off the light. I curled my hands around the final crystal and drifted off into the peaceful realms of sleep. I awoke in the early morning hours; well good to know that at least the waking spell was working. Now if this next part would just go as I planned it. I dropped the crystal on the floor so that he wouldn't be able to use his super sonic vampire powers to escape before I could talk to him. The plan worked surprisingly, and now I have one caged and outraged vampire trapped in my room. Wow, what girl doesn't want to wake up to that every morning? One in a million let me tell you.

"Good," I glanced at the clock, "morning Edward, we need to have a heart to heart chat."


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Ebonycircles owns nothing it all belongs to Mrs. Stephenie Meyer.

A/N: sorry for the long absence, enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 2

So, what exactly am I going to do with an enraged vampire in my room, well I thought that would be obvious, I'm going to talk to him duh.

He's a little on the angry side, which is understandable, I mean come on when a new girl moves to town and you can read her mind and then you find out she's a witch that'll send off all kinds of alarm bells. Besides, the man is on the mend psychologically from the last oh six months of his life, I'm sure the appearance of yet another magical being in his neck of the woods isn't exactly what he needs right now. Plus he's male in love, protection and all that jazz. And reformed demon or not I don't take any chances with my charges and in my line of work a girl can't afford to make stupid mistakes.

"What is going on?" He tried to reach through the bars but like any other person, or demon, or any other creature that happened to be trapped in the crystal's field he got a nasty shock for his efforts.

Well that clears one thing up, Julie's ideas that there are different kinds of vampires was correct. Good thing too, if he was a "normal" vampire my magic would have been useless and then we would have had more then one problem.

I winced, it was never on my agenda to hurt charges, but well I needed to talk to him face to face and not to his sub-conscious mind. Besides he's a vampire it's not like he's never been shot at or stabbed, these pain inducing items just bounce right off without a scar or scratch. While subconsciously he knows me, consciously I'm just another threat to his world.

"Sorry about that, I wouldn't have to use the crystals if I was sure you wouldn't disappear on me or you know try and kill me, being a vampire allows you to hide bodies well or at least that's what I'm told."

He seemed a little shocked that I knew his dirty little secret, and got another shock from the field as a consolation prize.

"And what are you going to do with me here, your father and sister bound to notice."

"Well for a guy who can read a girl's mind you don't get the message very quickly."

"Forgive me, I'm not used to having my home town turned into mythological creature central, Witch."

I rolled my eyes, lord will the name calling never cease? "Oh please I think we aged out of name calling around the first grade. Which for you was like what? A hundred years ago?" But as an after thought I added because I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm still that childish, "Vampire."

"If I promise not to run away, will you let me out?"

"Hmm….no, simply because I know your conscious mind still doesn't trust me yet Eddy. However, I'm sure you're sub-conscious mind in screaming at you to trust me."

"And you say I'm the mind reader?"

I shrugged, "Cupid's privilege, I can pick your thoughts Eddy, but only to a certain extent."

"Cupid," he looked skeptical, "Where's the diaper and arrows?"

"Oh like I haven't heard that one before," I sneered, note to self make life really really unpleasant for the people at Hallmark. "And you a vampire? Where are the fangs, the coffin, and the bat like qualities?"

He eyed me for a moment and then offered "Truce." He was smart enough not to stick his hand out into the field. "Now let me out I'm not a sideshow exhibit."

"Truce, Eddy—"

"Please refrain from calling me that."

"Sorry," I apologized somewhat sincerely. I leaned down to pick up one of the crystals and paused, "Promise you won't run away? I do know where you live."

He rolled his eyes, I figured that was about as good as it was going to get, and removed a crystal breaking the connection and thus destroying the field.

"Thank-you." Wow creepy vampires with manners, who would a thought? "So are you going to explain yourself or are you going to keep me in the dark?"

"Fair enough, I'm here to sort out what exactly has been going on for the past few months, I know the whole wolf triangle is totally my fault and for that I really do apologize.—"

"Wait, what!" he exclaimed, oh shit the fat had really hit the fire now. "What exactly do you mean by wolf triangle?"

"Nothing." Subject change, for the love of god a subject change, "I'm merely here to sort out what Katie has to do with your disappearance from Forks on September 15." Among other things, but really he doesn't need to know about those things.

"Stop trying to change the subject." Curse you mind readers. This was going to make my job a little harder then I originally planned. You see there are many things that cupids get to see that mortals—even immortals—just should not know about. This is mainly because it would blow their minds.

I took a deep breathe and exhaled, this was going to have to be revealed sooner or later, so I might as well get it over with now. "Alright, being that I was recently given your case about a year ago, after it was discovered that we had a problem with specie cross over; things were going in a serious direction. You and Bella had a great summer it was fabulous to watch, most of the time my charges are killed by upper level demons because their hearts are opened to love.

"Anyway moving on, the problem started on September 15 exactly, one minute I was fine, dandy, if not down right peachy then bam hits me like an energy ball to the stomach. So, for many months, I get the pleasure of battling both your emotions and the non-existent emotions of your girlfriend. Needless to say, I was in no position to be a proper cupid. So one of my cupid friends who was already up here looking after werewolves, told the elders that she would be happy to look after Bella and there's our problem. After all she'd dealt with similar experiences before blah...blah...blah. Big mistake, HUGE, you see because she's surrounded by wolves all day she naturally sides with them while I typically side with vamps. Devin was way more qualified for the job, but I would never make the claim that the Elders were smart.

"So there we have it, she whispered a little love into Jake, it caught on with him, as for Bella she really didn't want to feel anything so it took a very long time for it to even somewhat take root." He looked at me for a very long time, I was just starting to fear for my life when he spoke. He was probably picking my brain and I tried desperately to concentrate on something else, to obscure his prying mind.

"So you're saying that there are cupids out there who are responsible for all the love in the world?"

"Yes, well not all of it, people have the ability to forge their own love, cupids are there for people who've given up on love, or having difficulties with love, or there are cupids like me who are responsible for reformed demons such as yourself. As to you and your girlfriend there are many magical and not so magical reasons why you have a strong connection with Bella. One is that you were firsts together which is so cute and I will explain what firsts are later it'll be easier to understand trust me. Don't pick my brain for it. Second, you made the connection yourself, with no help from a cupid. While I do have the power to help vamps find love, the Elders make sure that we keep it within the same species, no cross-over allowed. So now that I've given you some information over-load you can leave if you want and I'll see you in school. Being nice isn't a necessity but it does come highly recommended." I said, turning back to my bed.

"Wait—"

"Sorry Ed…ward that's all I've got for you right now, but we can talk again later actually I'm counting on it. Until then." I was not in the mood to deal with him, besides I have to be at least semi-intelligent for school tomorrow and that would require some amount of sleep. Lesson number one about being a cupid always, no matter what, be in control of the situation, because the moment you hand a charge control they'll never listen to you again. He left, and I closed the window behind him, not that it would keep him out if he really wanted to come in, it just made me feel better.


End file.
